Looking for a ticket sales bump? Try retargeting ads.
For Seattle鈥檚 , retargeting ads have become an important part of their marketing mix. Last year, Marketing & Ticketing Manager Jordan Olels promoted the festival using Facebook ads without retargeting. This year, they used the Facebook retargeting pixel to focus ads on people who engaged with their event but didn鈥檛 buy tickets.
The result? Measurably higher conversion rates, and a much better return on their spend. 鈥淩etargeting has made a huge difference,鈥� says Olels.
Here鈥檚 a behind-the-scenes look at how Olels has used retargeting to drive ticket sales, so you can apply his strategy to your shows.
An intro to retargeting for music marketers
Retargeting is a way to advertise to fans who visited your ticketing page but didn鈥檛 make a purchase. If you鈥檝e ever seen ads following you around the web for a product or event you looked at online, you鈥檝e been retargeted. 聽
Retargeting ads work through marketing pixels: snippets of code or 1脳1 transparent images that let you track a customer鈥檚 journey. A pixel on your ticketing page lets you target visitors to your site who didn鈥檛 buy, so you can then remind them to get tickets later.
But does it work? The evidence suggests it does: fans who are retargeted are .
鈥淚t鈥檚 been crazy to see how effective the Facebook pixel is at capturing those who clicked on an ad but weren鈥檛 ready to convert,鈥� Olels says. 鈥淲e also retarget people who clicked 鈥榡oin鈥� on the Facebook Event, but haven鈥檛 clicked on the ticket link.鈥�
鈥淢ore and more, we鈥檙e spending more money with Facebook because of the retargeting and analytics,鈥� Olels continues. But it鈥檚 not just about Facebook. Olels has begun using tracking pixels with Reddit ads and Google AdWords.
Design retargeting ads as reminders
As for the ads themselves, it鈥檚 important to remember that you鈥檙e retargeting. Your customer didn鈥檛 buy tickets the first time they visited your page 鈥� but they鈥檙e familiar with your event. 聽
鈥淲e write copy that suggests the reader already knows about the show, like, 鈥楧on鈥檛 forget: Father John Misty is playing the Capitol Hill Block Party,鈥欌�� says Olels. 鈥淲e always include a strong call to action, like 鈥楲earn more,鈥� 鈥楽ee full line-up,鈥� or 鈥楥heck out ticket options.鈥欌��
Use analytics to improve your costs
Analytics have helped Olels and team watch their progress and improve their results. 鈥淟ast year, we reached almost 100,000 more people, but the cost-per-click was much higher. [The cost-per-click] has dropped by about 30%. So reach doesn鈥檛 always mean conversion.鈥�
At first, Olels found the pixel process came with a learning curve. 鈥淣ow I find it pretty easy,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you put in the time, you can learn to fine tune your different audiences and your retargeting. Then your return on ad spend is going to be much higher.鈥�
Olels now plans to use retargeting ads for Neumos and Barboza, two Seattle venues where he also manages marketing and ticketing.
鈥淭he numbers definitely prove that it works,鈥� says Olels.
Key takeaways:
- Make sure your team has goals and benchmarks for their advertising spend 鈥� you should keep track of your costs-per-click, not just your reach.
- Make sure you have a ticketing partner who empowers you to place your own marketing pixels, so you won鈥檛 miss out on valuable tracking.
- Don鈥檛 put all of your eggs in one basket 鈥� explore multiple advertising networks.
For more essential marketing techniques, download聽The Digital Marketing Guide for Music Events.
